Ginger Zee Talk About Depression, Suicide Attempt In New Book

Former WOOD-TV weather forecaster Ginger Zee, in a new book released today, talks about her crippling bouts of depression and a half-hearted suicide attempt at age 21.The perpetually smiling head meteorologist for Good Morning America chronicles her meteoric rise to network television in a new book, Natural Disaster (I cover them. I am one).

Ginger Zee )Graphic courtesy Kingswell Publishing via Amazon)

But Zee also opens up about "crippling" bouts of depression throughout her life, and a failed suicide attempt when she was 21.

In an interview with colleague Robin Roberts, she says she checked herself into a mental health hospital ten days prior to starting her job with ABC News.

“I had a disease. I will always have that disease. It’s not something that just magically goes away,” Zee said. “But I sought help and I actually committed to getting help. Just like anybody with cancer, or any other disease, they go to the hospital and that’s OK. And you’re allowed to do that. We should all be allowed to be who we are, even though that happens to be the disease we fight.”- ABC News

The suicide attempt came shortly after graduating from Valparaiso University. She took a large amount of benadryl and other non-lethal drugs. She writes that attempt did lead to her depression diagnosis.

The ABC News story about the book says "By telling her story honestly, Zee writes, that she wants to "bring hope" to others who have gone through similar experiences and help them "'know they are not alone.'"